


Giving in

by WordsInTimeAndSpace



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 03:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1967616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsInTimeAndSpace/pseuds/WordsInTimeAndSpace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose comes home one day clearly distressed, but she is reluctant to tell the Doctor what happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giving in

The Doctor crouched underneath the grating in the console room, fiddling with a mess of wires above his head. He had the sonic screwdriver between his teeth, since both of his hands were currently busy sorting through the cables he wanted to fix, but that didn't stop him from humming a happy tune of a pop song he had heard on the radio that morning while having breakfast with Rose. He roughly tucked at an especially persistent wire and yelped when his ship let out some sparks in protest. The screwdriver fell to the ground with a clatter and the Doctor sucked his burnt finger into his mouth, glaring at the ceiling.

“You're no good company when I'm working,” he complained, muttering through the finger in his mouth. “Much more fun when Rose is here to entertain me.”

It was true; everything was much more fun when Rose was at his side. But that didn't necessarily mean it was more successful. Quite the contrary, although he would never admit it out loud, not even when his ship was the only one to hear. Rose was becoming more and more a distraction when he was working on the TARDIS.

She always liked to keep him company, lingering on the jump seat with a book or sitting on top of the grating, legs dangling down to him, while they chatted about anything and everything. Which was nice, very nice to be precise, but her presence made it frustratingly hard to concentrate. The way she smelled when she joined him in the console room right after taking a shower, the sound of her happy laugher echoing through the room when he made a joke and the way her eyes wandered over his body when she thought he wouldn't notice. It always made him want to drop the wires immediately, press her down on the jump seat and snog the teasing smile off her face until she was panting underneath him.

Which was a problem. At least when he was doing important, possibly life- and universe- saving repairs on his ship.

Therefore he had chucked her out earlier that evening, a decision he currently regretted terribly because he missed her. He should have thought his plan through a bit more carefully.

The Doctor let out a sigh. They had parked the TARDIS in London and he desperately needed to do some repairs before taking off again, so it had seemed to be a good idea to stay at her mother's place for a few days, giving him the chance to tinker with his ship and Rose the opportunity to catch up with family and friends. Tonight she was out with Shareen, and the Doctor had insisted it was fine for him to stay behind and get some work done. Rose had protested, of course, trying to talk him into joining her, but he had been able to resist her wonderful brown eyes that had pleadingly looked up at him through thick lashes. He had been quite proud of himself.

Grumbling, the Doctor turned back towards the wires above his head. He couldn't change it now anyway, so he tried to make the best out of his situation and finish the necessary repairs. He was slowly getting impatient and restless and finally wanted to return to the stars, and he knew Rose was feeling the same.

He grinned when he finally heard the door open and slam shut again. But while Rose usually shouted a happy 'Hello' through the console room when she came back, the room stayed silent this time. The Doctor got up in confusion, poking his head through the hole in the grating.

Rose stood at the door with her back pressed against the wood behind her. Eyes closed, she breathed heavily, as if she had just run the way back to the TARDIS. Something was wrong.

“Rose?” the Doctor asked, his brow furrowing, and she jumped as if she hadn't realized there was someone else with her in the console room. For a second she stared at him out of wide eyes, before she managed a small smile.

“Oh, hi. Didn’t see you there, sorry.”

By now the Doctor had climbed up and wiped his oily hands on his trousers. He slowly walked towards her, eyeing her in concern.

“Rose, are you all right?”

She nodded, a bit too quickly, and averted her eyes.

“Yeah, sure. I'm fine.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. Her face was pale with a slight trace of sweat on her forehead, her body tense as if she was ready to fight or flee any second. And he could smell the light remains of fear on her. It was obvious she was lying.

“You don't look like you are,” he said quietly.

Rose sighed and brushed her hair out of her face.

“'M just tired,” she mumbled and tried to walk past him. The Doctor, slowly getting frustrated, grabbed her hand before she could vanish into the corridor of the ship, but immediately pulled his hand back when Rose cried out in pain.

For a second they both stared at each other, until Rose squeezed her eyes shut again and cursed under her breath. Immediately the Doctor was at her side, carefully reaching for her arm.

“Can I?” he asked softly and raised her wrist when she nodded, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. He sucked in a sharp breath.

“Rassilon, Rose, what happened?”

Rose opened her eyes again. Her hand was swollen, the knuckles bruised and her skin was slowly turning a light shade of purple. She let out a sigh.

“It's not as bad as it looks.”

“Well, since I am the Doctor, I will be the judge of that,” he answered and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, infirmary, now.”

 

~~~

 

A while later Rose was sitting on the cold exam bed in the med bay of the TARDIS, shifting uncomfortably while the Doctor studied her results. An awkward silence surrounded them. He peeked through his glasses, turning the pictures in his hands, until he put them down and rolled his chair towards her.

“Nothing's broken,” he announced. “Probably just a sprain.”

Rose smirked at him, trying to lighten the mood. “Told you it's not that bad.”

The Doctor ignored her smile and gave her a stern look. “You're still in need of treatment.”

He got up and walked over to the end of the room, rummaging through a cabinet. Rose bit her lip, blinking away the tears that formed in her eyes. She would have preferred it if he was shouting, instead of treating her with a cold silence. The Doctor returned and methodically began to patch up her hand without meeting her eyes, rubbing a light blue gel onto the injury that felt comfortably cool and made her skin tingle. He took more time than was strictly necessary, fingers brushing carefully over her bruised skin. When he was done, he wrapped a bandage tightly around her hand. He sat back then, obviously content with his work.

“You have to keep the bandages until tomorrow; the gel should have healed your hand until then. It is also a light anaesthetic. Do you think you need some more painkillers?”

“No, it's fine,” Rose mumbled.

The Doctor let out a sigh and reached for her uninjured hand, giving it a light squeeze. “Gonna tell me now what happened?”

Rose finally looked up then, meeting his soft gaze, filled with affection and concern, and she managed a smile. “How about a cuppa in the library? And then we can talk?”

The Doctor grinned, obviously relieved that Rose decided to share what had happened to her, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Good idea! Go on then, make yourself comfortable, I'll get the tea.”

 

~~~

 

Rose let out a content sigh when she was finally cuddled up on the sofa in the library, her feet tucked under her legs as she carefully balanced a cup of tea with her bandaged hand. The Doctor slumped down beside her and raised his trainer-clad feet to the table in front of them. Rose breathed in the smell of the hot tea and leaned back into the cushions. Finally she felt safe and at home.

She thought about the best way to tell him, and grimaced when she realized where was no nice way to say what needed to be said. She decided to get straight to the point.

“I ran into Jimmy Stone on my way home.”

The Doctor nearly dropped his cup of tea.

“WHAT?!”

“Please, don't make a fuss about it.”

He stared at her in disbelief. Rose bit her lip, hiding behind her cup of tea.

“Rose, you are _hurt_ , I won't just brush this aside. What has he done?” he growled.

“He didn't hurt me, Doctor.”

“I just bandaged your injured hand, in case you didn't notice!” The Doctor jumped up and began pacing the room. “Tell me what he has done to you and I...”

“NO!” Rose cried out and he stopped to stare at her. “I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would be all ‘Oncoming Storm’ and go after him.”

“That's bloody well the thing that bastard deserves!”

The Doctor was nearly shouting now. Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. She reached for his hand and tried to tuck him down onto the sofa next to her, but he didn't move. Instead, he looked down to her with an expression she couldn't quite place, his brow furrowed and his lips tightly pressed together.

“Will you please let me explain?” Rose asked softly and tugged at his hand again. He finally complied and sat down.

“Right, of course. Go on.”

“So... Shareen had already told me he was back in town,” Rose began slowly, but again she was interrupted.

“She knew and she let you go home _alone_?”

Rose swatted him lightly on the arm. “Oi, shut it. Of course she did, we both didn't think he would try to see me. And Jimmy is just a prat, it's not that he's dangerous.”

“But...”

“Doctor!”

“Right, yes.” The Doctor nervously rubbed his neck, staring at the ceiling. “I'll shut up now.”

“Thanks.” Rose sighed. “He waited for me in front of the estate. He just wanted to talk, told me how much he missed me and... yeah. Stuff like that. Promised he had changed, wanted to take me out for dinner. Bit strange, isn't it? I mean, he was the one who left me all these years ago...”

“Maybe he realized what he was missing,” the Doctor said without thinking and Rose blinked at him in surprise.

“How do you mean that?”

“Hmm?” The Doctor turned to look at her and finally realized what he had just said. The tips of his ears went slightly pink and he started to ramble.

“Just, eh... I mean... you are... you look pretty in that dress. Yes. That's what I wanted to say. You are a beautiful young woman and that idiot obviously didn't notice until it was too late.”

The corners of her lips twitched upwards. “Yeah? You think so?”

The Doctor coughed and took a sip of his tea so quickly it burnt his tongue. “Didn't you tell me to shut up a minute ago?”

“Yes, right. So he was talking to me and I got angry, because he was the one who left me for another girl and who put me in debt and never apologized for it and now he wanted me back, so I told him to piss off, but he didn't listen. Begged me to give him another chance. I was sick of his excuses and tried to leave, and he wanted to stop me and grabbed my arm and...”

Rose's voice trailed off and the Doctor swallowed hard, afraid of what might have happened then. He reached for her hand, entangled his fingers with hers and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“And then?”

Rose shrugged. “Well, he wouldn't let go of my arm and I was really angry with him. And I...”

“Rose,” he said again, more persistent this time, and Rose turned to look at him.

“I punched him. In the face. I think I broke his nose, there was a very nasty crunch.”

For a moment the Doctor stared at her, his face completely blank. Rose bit her lip as she waited for an answer. And then the Doctor burst out in laughter. Despite the tension in the air, Rose couldn't help but giggle with him.

“That's it?”

“Yes. He looked at me as if I had two heads and I just turned around and left.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nope. No need for you to chuck him into the nearest black hole to defend my honour.”

The Doctor suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Rose let out a relieved hum and snuggled closer. She could still feel his chest vibrate in silent laughter.

“Didn't think you would find it so funny that I punched someone. Usually you’re the pacifist one,” she teased.

“I think I'll make an exception this time. But please remind me to never give you a reason to punch me.”

“Oi!” Rose protested and poked him into his ribs. The Doctor chuckled.

“Behave, and then I'll never have to,” she laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. The Doctor pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I'm glad he didn't hurt you,” he murmured into her hair.

“Me too. I was a bit scared, to be honest,” Rose finally admitted and the Doctor tightened his grip around her shoulders.

“I'm sorry, Rose, I should have come with you.”

“It wasn't your fault. You couldn't know. And it's fine, yeah? I'm all right. Thanks for patching me up.”

“Any time. But try not to let that happen again, okay?”

Rose giggled into his shoulder. “Don't worry. Think I only got that one ex-boyfriend who needed punching.”

“Good. Hope you don't start to collect new ones. Although I might be willing to do the punching for you, if necessary.”

The tone in his voice made Rose frown and she pulled back a little to see his face. He was looking down at her softly. Rose raised her uninjured hand and placed it on his cheek.

“I said I'm never gonna leave you and I meant it Doctor,” she said and the Doctor leaned into her touch. “I don't need a boyfriend when I'm with you.”

“No?” the Doctor asked hopefully and his lips curled into a small smile. And suddenly Rose made a decision.

“Definitely not.”

Slowly, giving him time to pull back, Rose raised her head. But he stayed where he was, his brown eyes locked into hers. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The Doctor didn’t respond at first and Rose felt panic creep into her stomach. She tried to pull back but the Doctor quickly stopped her by cupping the back of her head with his hand and gently pulled her lips down to his again. The kiss was soft and slow and innocent, as if they had all the time in the world. Rose sighed contently against his mouth.

Finally he pulled back and looked down to Rose, grinning when he noticed her flushed cheeks and dazzled expression. Rose looked like she couldn't really believe what had just happened, but suddenly she burst out into giggles. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

“What's so funny?”

“You really are a Doctor, then.”

“What?” He blinked, obviously confused.

“Yeah. I'm hurting and first you patch me up and then... you kiss it better.”

The Doctor broke out into a proud smile, before he leaned down for another kiss. His lips moved against hers, warm and wet, and he caught her bottom lip between his own to suck slightly.

“Might have to kiss you more often, then,” he murmured against her lips.

“Yeah?” Rose gasped between two kisses. The Doctor tucked her down until Rose was laying on her back and he hovered over her. He trailed his hand down her side, fingertips brushing lightly over her stomach in a way that made Rose shiver with anticipation.

“Yep. Don't want you to get hurt on purpose just because you want a kiss. I know how insatiable you humans can be.” He grinned and suggestively waggled his eyebrows.

Rose laughed. “Not gonna argue with that. You better start sooner rather than later then, just to be sure.” She gave him a teasing smile, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.

“Oh, I will,” the Doctor promised and dipped his head again to press his lips to hers, chasing her pink tongue with his own.


End file.
